Season 3
by LucyFitzgerald77
Summary: This is my version of Season 3! I started this during the summer hiatus and plan to continue throughout season 3. (Chapters 9 and 10 now added!)
1. Prologue

I decided to do a new story! Here's a little preface...more to come hopefully before the end of the weekend!

* * *

Lovemaking.

This was a term Nicholas Miller was finally beginning to understand. Sure he had slept with many a girl over the past ten years or so and he could even kind of use that term in reference to Caroline, but what he had with her was nothing, NOTHING, in comparison to what he had with Jess. And they had only had sex twice. Well, three times if you count right now.


	2. At Last

_Earlier_

After a three hour long drive around the lovely city of LA (with a stop at Sonic for a snack), Nick and Jess decided to just go back to the loft. CeCe's almost-wedding day had been long and tiresome on everyone involved. When they walked in, they could hear the train-like snores of Mr. Day coming from the hall.

"I almost forgot my dad was here!" Jess whispered.

"How could you forget something like that?" Nick grumbled. Right now, Mr. Day wasn't exactly Nick's biggest fan.

Jess rolled her eyes and took Nick's arm, leading him to her bedroom.

"Not in there!" Nick hissed, "Are you trying to end my life early?"

Jess tightened her grip on Nick's arm and yanked him toward the kitchen. "You'll cause your own death if you keep talking so loud and wake him up!"

"But he'll kill us both if he catches us sleeping together!"

"Look Nick, I'm a grown woman. If he doesn't approve of the guy I'm sleeping with, well he can just get over it!" Jess pulled him back toward the bedroom, quietly opening the door and then locking it behind them.

Nick's eyes glanced at the locked door and then at Jess in her blue sari and Bob Day quickly vanished from his mind. This beautiful woman, the one he had spontaneously grabbed and kissed in the hall, the one he attempted to take on a date which failed miserably and still ended up sleeping with, the one he ran back to the hotel for just a few hours earlier was looking back at him with eyes full of desire, a slight smile on her lips.

A few minutes after a brief struggle with removing the sari was when Nick started thinking about the term "lovemaking". It's funny how random things pop in your mind when you're having sex. At least this was actually sex related. He knew he loved her even though he would never admit that to anyone. And that's why he thought the sex between them was so incredible.

The first time they'd done it after he had carried her into his bedroom was rushed because they were both so excited. After they had recovered, Jess had initiated it again and that time it had been slow and passionate…absolutely perfect. It was the kind of sex Nick preferred, but of course he wouldn't admit that to anyone either. This time right now was reminding him a lot of the first time, but Nick didn't mind. It was sex for god's sake and it was WITH JESS.

* * *

Afterward, Nick pulled Jess close to him, spooning her. "You're amazing, you know that?" he began, delicately touching her hair.

"That's what they tell me!" Jess joked and then turned her head toward him and gave him a quick kiss. She was silent for a few seconds and started to move over a bit so she could face him better without having to strain her neck. "Nick, what made you kiss me that night? You know, the first time in the hall."

Nick internally panicked and his breath hitched. He didn't have an answer to this! "Umm," he stalled. It had been an impulsive, very un-Nick like action. Sure he had thought about it that night before he did it. He would have kissed her behind the curtain if she hadn't told him he was doing it wrong. "You didn't like the way I was going to kiss you during the dare so I kissed you later to make up for it," he lied. Well, it was partially true, but he knew there was a lot more to it than that.

Jess cocked her head slightly. "That's the only reason?"

Nick remained silent for a minute or two, formulating an answer. He was horrible at expressing his feelings verbally but he was pretty sure he could do this. This was Jess, not some random girl he was hooking up with. She would take him seriously, and hell, she might even think it was romantic or something. He took a deep breath before he began. "I wanted to kiss you for a long time but I didn't want to HAVE to kiss you. Like, I wanted it to be, you know, special, because it was you." He glanced at Jess (he had been mostly looking down the whole time) to make sure she wasn't freaking out before he continued. "I thought about kissing you later, after everyone had left and went to bed, but Dr. Sam ended up staying over so I gave up and went to bed. But then after that lady took my coat away, I just couldn't help myself. I was pretty surprised you kissed me back."

"I think I've liked you for a long time. I just didn't realize it until you kissed me," Jess explained.

Nick could only smile because inside he was starting to freak out. She liked him? Well of course he knew that. I mean, she had kissed him back and slept with him and practically begged him to un-call it. But hearing those words aloud was crazy. How could she possibly like him? Him, Nick Miller: failure at life.

* * *

Schmidt sat in his room holding a picture of him and Elizabeth from his college days in one hand and a magazine opened to an ad with CeCe in it in the other hand. This was too damn hard! How the hell would he ever be able to choose between the two of them? He thought he had been over CeCe. But to know she still had feelings for him had changed that. Maybe he had never been entirely over her. And of course there was Elizabeth. He loved her. Ever since he had known her, she had always had a special place in his heart. She looked so hurt when she realized he'd have to decide between her and CeCe. He had tried so hard to get her to out with him again! Everything had been wonderful and then stupid CeCe and stupid Shivrang had to ruin everything. Perhaps he should blame Elaine too. If she hadn't showed up to the wedding, Shivrang may have fought to try to marry CeCe. Damn Elaine! Damn Shivrang! Damn CeCe! And damn Elizabeth! He threw down the photo and the magazine and decided to go to bed so he wouldn't have to think about this anymore. At least for tonight.

* * *

***I just wanted to say, if I've accidentally copied anyone's ideas, I'm sorry. I think a lot of us have similar ideas for season 3. I've seen so many awesome stories which makes me really excited. Reading them is helping me get through the hiatus! Also, I just wanted to throw in that New Girl is not my idea, these characters are not mine, and I take no credit for them whatsoever.


	3. Thoughts and Decisions

A big thank you for the reviews! They mean a lot and keep me motivated to write!

* * *

It was almost daybreak before Winston arrived back home at the loft. He had received many stitches at the hospital and his arm was all wrapped up in bandages. Right now, with all the pain medicine, it didn't hurt but he knew tomorrow it would be hell. He finally realized what all his friends meant about him taking pranks too far. He trudged in through the front door and walked toward his bedroom. He completely forgot Mr. Day was on the air mattress in the hall and stepped right on him, tripping over the air mattress in the process and hitting his knee hard on the floor. Bob jumped up and yelled in agony and Winston keeled over in pain, hugging his knee.

"What the hell are you doing?" Bob grumbled, rubbing his leg where Winston had stepped on it.

"I'm sorry Mr. Day, I forgot you were here," Winston apologized, his face grimacing in pain.

Jess's door opened and she walked out with her robe wrapped around her. "What's going on? Are you guys okay?"

"I stepped on your dad!" Winston replied, "And then I smashed my knee on the floor."

"What the hell is going on out here?" Nick came out too.

"What in god's name are you doing in my daughter's bedroom? I thought I made myself perfectly clear!" Bob yelled.

"Were we interrupting anything?" Winston grinned. Nick and Jess both shot him poisonous looks.

"Dad!" Jess yelled, "I honestly don't care what you think about Nick. He's super important to me and yes he may not be perfect and yes, he may not be your ideal…boyfriend for me, but I can't imagine him not being in my life!"

Okay, first Jess admitted to Nick verbally that she liked him, now she had practically said he was her boyfriend. Nick didn't know whether to panic and run far, far away or to jump up and down with excitement. He decided against either and took in a deep breath. "I care about Jess very much and I'm going to try not to disappoint her. Or you." Jess took his hand and squeezed it gently.

"I see. Obviously my opinion doesn't count for anything. All I can say is, Nick, you better prove me wrong or there'll be hell to pay. Now good night!" he pulled the covers back on him.

"Actually, it's almost 5:30 in the morning," Winston said.

"Whatever!" Bob grunted, "Leave me alone and go ice your damn knee!"

* * *

Schmidt glanced at his phone: ten after six. It might be Sunday but he couldn't sleep anymore. He had no idea what he'd do today. If things hadn't gone to crap he'd be hanging out with Elizabeth. Maybe she would have even convinced him to eat some fried chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner at the homestyle restaurant downtown.

He got his laptop and brought up Microsoft Word. He remembered an episode of Friends where Ross was trying to decide between going out with Rachel and some other women and had made a list of pros and cons. It didn't sound like a half-bad idea. He typed out two columns, Elizabeth and CeCe, and then a pros and cons list for each.

Elizabeth's cons included making him do things he didn't want to do, being a little overweight, and her style wasn't too great. CeCe's cons were…well crap, he couldn't think of any. She was a perfect angel in his eyes. Should he break it off with Elizabeth then? No! That would be too hard. He knew she wouldn't take it well and she would definitely never take him back if he did that. He couldn't bear the thought of that.

He had already bid adieu to CeCe. A few times actually. If things didn't work out with her AGAIN, then he would have to say goodbye to her another time, plus Elizabeth would be gone forever too. He took a deep sigh, knowing what he had to do.

* * *

Jess tiptoed out of her bedroom a little after 7. Even though her dad was angry about her and Nick, she wanted to try to make things right and cheer him up, along with everyone else, with a nice breakfast. On the food shelf she found an unopened bag of blueberry bagels. Those would be perfect! She'd toast them and serve some scrambled eggs on the side. It wouldn't be fancy but it definitely would beat having cereal.

She began to slice the bagels when she looked up and saw Nick walk in. "Morning babe," he came behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He began to kiss her neck and walked around her, gently pushing her up against the counter and kissing her hard on the mouth.

"Nick!" she whispered loudly, "Someone could come in here! My dad for instance!"

Nick didn't respond but continued to kiss her and slid his hand up her pajama top. She gasped but didn't push him away. He smiled wickedly at her when he realized she wasn't wearing a bra and could graze his hand over her breast. They were both in their own little world so they didn't realize the bagel Jess had placed in the toaster oven was burning until Schmidt came barging in the kitchen. They quickly broke free and Jess adjusted her shirt.

"You're filthying up the counter! And the damn bagel is burning to a crisp!" Schmidt yelled as he ran toward the toaster oven.

"Whoops!" Nick chuckled.

"We were a little preoccupied," Jess apologized.

"So are you two like a thing now?" Schmidt asked, not worried about the bagel anymore now that he'd rescued it before it had caught on fire.

Both Nick and Jess shrugged, not sure how to answer him.

"I never thought I'd say this," Schmidt began, "But I actually kind of like you together. You're both really something."

"That's what Russell said!" both Nick and Jess exclaimed.

"What is all the commotion?" Bob grumbled as he entered the kitchen.

"Good morning Dad! I made some breakfast!" Jess said cheerfully, hoping to smooth things over from earlier this morning.

"It smells like you're burning breakfast, not making it," Bob complained.

"Well lucky for us, there's five of us and six bagels so we still have enough!" Jess told him. She walked to the fridge and got out the egg carton. She cracked most of the eggs and stirred them together. Nick finished toasting the bagels and Schmidt got out some orange juice and started the coffee percolator. Bob went back to the living room to watch some TV.


	4. Schmidt's Decision

Schmidt drove over to CeCe's apartment. This was it. He was going to tell her how it would be. He was usually calm as a cucumber but today he was extremely nervous because he knew he would be breaking one woman's heart. Before getting out of the car when he arrived, he took a deep breath.

He knocked quietly on CeCe's front door. She opened it, a slight smile on her face, but it quickly faded when she saw the expression on Schmidt's face. She already knew what he was going to say.

"Come in," she said softly. Schmidt walked into the living room and sat on the couch, palms sweating.

"CeCe, I don't want to hurt you. Just know that. But it took me a very long time to get over you. And I reunited with Elizabeth and I'll admit, it was weird at first because let's face it, Elizabeth doesn't exactly meet my expectations in the looks department. But she means a lot to me. She knows me better than anyone. And I can't end things with her when they've just begun. I still care about you CeCe. I might even still love you. But I can't be with you. I need to be with Elizabeth," Schmidt explained, all the while crossing and uncrossing his leg, cracking his knuckles, and running his hand through his perfectly neat hair.

Tears were forming in CeCe's eyes. She had already thought this was going to happen but a small part of her was hoping Schmidt would choose her.

"Okay Schmidt," she said, her voice trembling. "But can I say one thing?"

"Of course," Schmidt said, his hand reaching out to her hair and stroking it gently.

"I'm so sorry for the way I treated you. I didn't have to be such a bitch to you when I was with Robbie. You know I'm not a nice girl but the way I acted was pretty low. I can't even believe you still wanted to be with me up until Elizabeth came back into your life."

"You were pretty special to me," Schmidt smiled.

"You'd better go," CeCe said.

Schmidt gave her a soft hug and kissed her on the forehead before he left. The walk back to his car was long. All he could think about was how sad CeCe was. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out and saw a text from Elizabeth. He smiled; as hard as it had been, he knew he had done the right thing.

* * *

I apologize for such a short chapter but I hadn't updated in awhile so I thought a short chapter was better than nothing!


	5. Farewell to Bob

Bob let the air out of the air mattress and folded it up. His flight was leaving in a couple of hours. He asked Jess if he could talk to her for a minute alone.

"Jessica," he began, "I don't want you to think I hate Nick because I don't. But I just don't want to see my baby girl get hurt. When your mother and I decided to separate and get a divorce, the day I left, I noticed the look on her face as I was walking out the door and let me tell you, it was heartbreaking. We both loved each other but the arguments we had on a daily basis were just too much for us to keep dealing with. I see myself in Nick and I see a lot of your mother in you so I can't help but think the same could happen to you and him."

"Listen Dad, I know you mean well, but Nick and I aren't even an actual couple. We're trying to figure things out. I don't know if it'll ever even be serious or not. But he means a lot to me and I want to find out where our relationship can go. I'm sorry you're not happy about it but I promise that no matter what, I'll be okay," Jess put her arms around her dad and kissed him on the cheek.

"I guess I'll just have to trust you. I don't trust him though. I hope you're on the pill or wrapping it up because the last thing I want to hear is you getting knocked up with his baby and him leaving you!"

"Daddy!" Jess protested.

Bob cleared his throat. "So am I going to have to get a cab or are you going to drive me to the airport?"

"I can take you," she said, "But only if you don't talk about sex anymore."

"Deal!" he agreed.

* * *

After Jess had dropped Bob off, she decided to check in on CeCe. Even though Jess was sure CeCe was glad that marrying Shivrang hadn't worked out, she knew it still couldn't have been easy. And of course there was the whole matter with Schmidt. She had thought CeCe was over him but apparently not.

She knocked on CeCe's door to which CeCe responded with an annoyed: "I told you to leave!"

Jess was momentarily stunned and then realized CeCe couldn't have been talking about her. "It's me CeCe! Open up!"

CeCe opened the door. She looked horrible. Her makeup was all smeared, her eyes were puffy from crying, and she was wearing old sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt with stains. "Jess, I'm sorry. I thought you were Schmidt."

Instantly Jess knew what had happened. She had thought Schmidt would end up picking Elizabeth but of course she hadn't told CeCe that. And wasn't going to. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Not really," CeCe tried to smile but instead, tears began to run down her face. "I was such an idiot! I threw away the one guy who actually cared about me. Of course he'd pick HER! He doesn't deserve a bitch like me!"

"CeCe," Jess started, "You're not a bitch. I'm sure that's not the reason Schmidt didn't pick you. I know he cares a lot about you. But the history he has with Elizabeth is pretty great and he's trying to change and be a better person because of her. You were good for him but I think he's finally starting to act like himself again. And what I mean is, the way he was before he lost weight. Nick said he was an entirely different person and he's reverting back to that. He wasn't such a douche bag then. I think he really needs Elizabeth."

CeCe sniffled. "I guess you're right. It's just really hard you know? Even though I didn't actually care that much for Shivrang, at least I had someone. Now I've got to start fresh again. I just wanted to get married and start a family! Now I have no idea how long it's going to take and I might not even be able to have kids!"

"You'll find someone! And I'm sure you'll be able to have kids! And if you can't," CeCe glared at Jess, "IF you can't, you can adopt! There's lots of babies that need a home. You could even adopt more than one!"

CeCe was silent for a bit and then took a deep breath. "So, what is this about you and Nick finally doing the deed?"

Jess smiled. "Oh my god. It was incredible! I never would have said Nick would be good in bed but oh my god, he is! It was absolutely perfect! It wasn't awkward like any of my other first times. It was like him and I had been doing it for years and yet it was still brand new and exciting."

"I don't know if I've ever seen you this happy! So was this a one time thing or are you guys together or what?"

"We did again last night! And I'm really really hoping that we're together! But you know Nick, he's Mr. non-commitment, screws-up-everything, fun wrecker, so I have no idea if this will last. I really want it to though!"

"It's so weird. I mean, I'm happy for you Jess but half the time, don't you want to kill Nick?"

"Well, yeah. But the other half of the time he's SO sweet to me and he cares about me a lot and of course he's good in bed…."

"I knew he liked you! Remember when I told you he did?"

"Of course! How could I forget that? I was freaked out for like a week because of it!"

"What changed your mind about him? I mean, you didn't used to like him like this."

"I think when he kissed me. It was like, he was finally showing me how he felt and it just seemed so right. Like, how could I have not been kissing him this whole time?"

"Wow babe, you've got it bad!"

* * *

Another thank you for the reviews! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. There will be some Ness in the next chapter...promise!


	6. Changes in the Loft

Winston's phone vibrated and woke him up. He glanced at the screen; it was Coach!

"Hey man!" he said as he answered the phone, "Long time, no talk!" He tried to push himself up in an upright position but his arm hurt horribly, making it difficult. His knee was throbbing too. He heard a knock at his door. "Come in!" he whispered loudly.

Nick walked in, oblivious to the fact that Winston was on the phone. "How's the arm doing?"

Winston pointed at his phone and whispered, "Coach!"

"Tell him I said hey," Nick said, turning around to walk out. He noticed a pile of pictures on Winston's desk and started to browse through them because he saw a few of himself looking like a fool. He must have been drunk when those were taken. He shoved a few in his pocket so he could throw them out later. Winston said goodbye to Coach and hung up so Nick turned back around.

"Guess what?" Winston started, "We're about to get a new roommate."

"Coach is coming back? We don't have any extra rooms!" Nick pointed out.

"Aren't you and Jess banging now? I just assumed you two would be with each other so much one of your rooms would be pretty much vacant anyway. Plus with him chipping in with rent, we'll all be a little richer!" Winston said.

"You've got a point," Nick began, "But you probably should have at least talked about it with Schmidt and Jess."

"They'll be cool with it! It's gonna be a reunion!" Winston fist pumped the air with his good arm.

"What's going on you guys?" Jess said as she walked into the room.

Nick put his arm around her and pulled her close. "Remember Coach? Well, Winston was just talking to him and good news! He's coming to stay with us!"

"You mean back here? In the loft?" Jess asked.

"Yeah," Nick replied, "That's not a problem is it?"

"A problem? I think it's great! I miss him and I feel bad I didn't get to know him very well."

"I was thinking of letting him have my room, if that's okay," Nick began.

"I don't mind. But where are you going to sleep?" Jess asked.

Nick just looked at her, a smile creeping on his lips.

"Ohhh! You can stay in my room! It'll be like we're living together!"

"You two do live together!" Winston threw in.

"But I mean in like a couple way! You'll be moving in with me," Jess smiled.

"So we are definitely a couple then? Because I just want to establish that if we are," Nick asked.

"You guys were a couple before you even kissed her Nick!" Winston exclaimed.

"Hmm," Jess contemplated, "Well technically I was with Sam then, so I'm going to say no." At the mention of Sam, Nick made a face.

"But you two obviously liked each other," Winston pointed out.

"Was it really that obvious? I had a boyfriend and Nick was dating other girls and I totally respected that. I mean, I guess we were pretty close but I never thought I gave off any "feelings" vibes," Jess used her hands to make air quotes.

"Well it was obvious Nick liked you!" Winston insisted, "Am I right?"

Jess and Nick both shrugged. "Maybe it was more noticeable on my part," Nick said.

"You've really changed since she's been around man," Winston began, "You aren't as mad as you used to be. You dress nicer. You look nicer. She's had a magic effect on you."

Jess thought about this for a moment. Nick was still pretty grouchy most of the time. His clothes still were pretty shabby. She did agree he looked nicer though. He had been shaving regularly and he got his hair cut more often. She had noticed that from the time she moved in until a little before the kiss that Nick had slowly started to do things for her such as make her tea, offer to help her with things every now and then, and didn't make fun of her cooking as much as he used to. She smiled at him and kissed him quickly on the lips. "It's all him. I've never tried to make him change."

Nick brought her close to him and kissed her gently, placing one hand on her face and the other wrapped around her waist.

"Do you two really need to do this in here?" Winston said with a disgusted look on his face.

"You wanna go to your room?" Nick asked Jess, acquiescing to Winston.

"You mean our room?" Jess smiled smugly.

"Yes, our room, your room, wherever we can have sex without people watching," Nick grabbed her hand and they went to her room and shut the door. He lifted her into his arms the way he had done the first night they had slept together and then gently placed her on the bed.

"How about _you_ lie down and watch _me_ take everything off?" Jess asked as she sat up and slowly began to undo the buttons on her dress.

"Uhh yeah!" Nick went over to the bed and sat down. Jess stood up and undid the rest of the buttons and slowly slid the dress off, lightly kicking it to the floor. Nick jumped up and went to embrace her but she pushed him away. "No not yet! Geez Nick, can't a girl finish a striptease?"

"You've started stripping and you're teasing me! I think you've done your job," Nick said, trying to kiss Jess.

"Well how about you take off your clothes then Mister?" Jess said coyly. Nick grinned and quickly pulled off his shirt and yanked off his pants. All he was left with was his checker print boxers. "Now come here!" Nick reached his arms out and Jess gently straddled him and pulled his face to hers and kissed him hard on the mouth and ran her hands through his hair.

* * *

Later that evening, Schmidt drove over to Elizabeth's. She was going to make him a special dinner to sort of celebrate the fact that he had chosen her. He was excited but couldn't stop thinking about how hurt CeCe had looked earlier. He knew he had done the right thing but it would be awkward for awhile whenever he would have to see her. Especially when he would have Elizabeth with him.

He had put on a light blue button down shirt and some dark blue jeans with some Sperry's. It was a lot more casual than he would normally wear but he just didn't feel like he needed to dress up for Elizabeth. Pretty much anything he could wear would be ten times better than the crap he wore when they originally were dating. She didn't mind what he wore and he was actually okay with that. And heck, these clothes were much more comfortable anyway.

* * *

Another thank you for the reviews! I really appreciate them. I should be having some more time to write in a few weeks so I'm hoping to write a lot more often. Also, for any Friends fans, I'm working on a fan fiction about Mondler so a keep an eye out for that soon.


	7. When A Man Is With The Woman He Loves

Nick was in a relationship. With Jessica Day. They were a couple. It didn't seem that long ago that he was struggling day and night to try not to think about her. Because let's face it: when you're just friends with someone, let alone roommates with them, thinking about them in a sexual way seems dirty and wrong. Especially if you're quite sure that individual certainly doesn't think about you that way. But now, everything had changed.

They had taken a nap after having sex and Nick was first to wake up. He gently got out of bed and pulled his jeans back on and found his shirt on the other side of the room. He was officially her boyfriend now and wanted to be the best damn boyfriend she had ever had. Tonight, they would go on a proper date. Not some sorry excuse for a date like a few weeks ago when things were awkward between them and Russell had showed up. Thinking about that night made him remember something. The parking tickets they had written on. What had she written on hers?

His had been simple: "my beautiful best friend". When he had wrote it, he knew Russell would read it aloud and he hadn't wanted it to reveal too much yet be completely honest. But had Jess been more open? Would he ever find out? He felt really weird asking her about it now.

He walked to Schmidt's room and browsed through his rack of suits. He pulled one out. Too dressy. He pulled another one out. It had a big daisy above the front breast pocket. What the hell? Forget the suits. He found Schmidt's shirts and pulled out a dark lilac long sleeved button down. Could he actually wear this color? It seemed too girly or something. Yet, Schmidt had worn this several times and didn't look like any less of a guy. Why not? He tossed it on the bed and found some of Schmidt's faded blue Diesel jeans. He took off the jeans he was wearing and began to put on the Diesel jeans. They were really tight and he was having a difficult time getting them over his butt so he started to jump, hoping they would somehow fit.

Outside Schmidt's door, Nick could hearing Jess calling out his name. Next thing he knew, she opened his door and walked in to him struggling to zip up the jeans.

"What are you doing?" she asked with a horrified look on her face.

Nick stopped messing with the zipper. "Obviously, I'm getting dressed."

"In Schmidt's clothes?" she questioned.

"He has a great sense of style," Nick shrugged.

"Since when do you care about that?"

"Since now! I wanted to surprise you but I thought maybe we could go out to dinner tonight. A _real_ date."

"But why can't you wear your own clothes?"

"Because they're crap! Schmidt says so all the time," he smiled shyly, "I want to look nice for ya."

Jess smiled back. "Your clothes aren't a big deal to me Nick. But if we're going to eat somewhere nice, I guess it wouldn't hurt to borrow his shirt, but you could wear your own jeans."

He held up the jeans that were lying on the floor. "But they have holes!"

"Not those! The other pair you have. The ones you wore when you came to my class when you thought Edgar was a murderer."

"Those aren't good enough either."

"Well you can't wear Schmidt's. Your ass looks like it's going to explode."

"Nice, Jess," he chuckled and then sighed, "I might just have to go against my beliefs and get some new jeans."

"We can go together!" Jess said excitedly, "I'll help you find the perfect pair."

"I hate shopping," Nick complained.

* * *

"I still can't believe you chose me," Elizabeth said as she gently massaged Schmidt's shoulders.

"You're pretty special to me," Schmidt replied and turned around to kiss her. "I hated losing you when you broke up with me."

"I never thought I'd see this Schmidt again. Who knew I could change you back?"

"Change me? You didn't "change" me Elizabeth. I changed myself. I took a step of faith and decided to become a better Schmidt."

"But you didn't start doing that until you started spending time with me again."

"Perhaps you motivated me, but I decided myself that I'd change."

"I practically threatened I'd never want to see you again unless you changed!"

Schmidt was silent for a moment. "Okay. Maybe you're on to something."

"I know I am! But it really doesn't matter does it? I mean, just the fact that you did is enough."

"CeCe was pretty upset when I told her," Schmidt blurted out.

"That's understandable," Elizabeth said cautiously.

"Don't get mad," he began, "I want to be with you. But CeCe is my friend, even though we kind of dated. I hate that she's hurting."

"I'm not mad Schmidt," she said, "But do you have to talk about her?"

"Sorry, " he apologized, "It's just hard because she's important to me even though we're not together. I don't want her to hate me."

Elizabeth sighed. "I guess I can understand that. I felt that way about Freddie for awhile."

"Who's Freddie?"

"A guy I dated for a two years after you and I broke up. He was great but he didn't want to ever get married so I had to break up with him."

"You wanted to get married?"

"Well, yeah. I'm fine with dating a guy for awhile but eventually, I want to settle down. I want a happy-ever-after."

"Did you want to marry me? You know, before I lost weight?"

"Of course! I used to imagine you proposing to me at graduation. A ring instead of a graduation gift."

"I had no idea. I mean, I guess I sort of thought we might get married. But not til we were like 30 or something."

"We're 30 now," Elizabeth grinned. Schmidt just remained silent.


	8. Love Isn't Always Easy

**A big thank you for the reviews! Sometimes I get discouraged with writing my fan fics because I won't hardly get any reviews and I just want to trash the story. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

Jess and Nick were sitting in the food court finishing off some cups of frozen yogurt. They had looked in two department stores and a few smaller stores but hadn't found Nick any jeans yet. It wasn't easy because he couldn't afford anything over $30 and it seemed like all of the jeans that were even remotely similar to what he was looking for were around $100.

"You might just need to splurge," Jess suggested.

"I work at a bar Jessica," he began, "I can barely afford to chip in my share of the rent and utilities, let alone food. Almost all the clothes I have now are from when I was in college because my expenses then were pretty much nothing."

"Then why are we here?" Jess asked, "You said you wanted new pants. If you can't afford them, then perhaps we should just leave."

Nick rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll just keep wearing all of my crap and when we go out in public, you might as well just introduce me as your friend Nick because no one will believe I'm your boyfriend anyway."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You Jess, you are completely out of my league. I can't even believe you want to be with me. Compared to Russell and Sam, and hell, even Paul, I'm nothing. I'm not attractive. I don't have any money. I pretty much hate everything…"

Jess was silent for a moment, but her eyes were blazing and she looked like she could explode any second. "Why do you keep DOING THIS TO YOURSELF?" People sitting in the food court turned their heads to see what was going on. Jess lowered her voice. "You are an amazing person Nick. I want to be with you because I've never been this close to _anyone_ before. You can't keep talking this way about yourself! You may not be living to your potential right now, but I know you Nick. I know you will eventually. And I happen to find you _very_ attractive! Quit comparing yourself to my exes and just be you! I like you for who you are. You don't need to change for me."

"You're just trying to be nice to me," Nick half laughed.

Jess looked like she could start crying any second. "Nick, please believe me! I have never wanted anyone more than I've wanted you. I was so scared after you kissed me because I didn't want things to be weird between us. I didn't want to lose you. You need to stop being so critical of yourself. I'm so excited that I can finally call you my boyfriend. Please don't ruin this for us Nick. I know you care a lot about me. I don't want to lose you, but as much as I care about you, I can't be with you if you keep saying stuff like this. I know you're not perfect, but you're nowhere near how you describe yourself."

Nick sighed heavily. "I'm sorry Jess. I've told you before: I have something bad in me. But you're right. At least, I think you are. I have some potential. I mean, I did finish up a bachelor's degree. That counts for something right?"

"Absolutely!" Jess nodded. "I know you can be anything you want if you just try Nick."

"I want to make ya proud of me," he smiled.

"I'm already proud of you," Jess said, "You came back for me even though you wanted to give up."

"Kinda gotta give Winston credit for that," Nick confessed, "He reminded me I have lots of choices in life."

"It was still you Nick. You didn't have to listen to Winston, but you did."

"Good thing I did or else it would have been awkward as hell in the loft!"

Jess could only laugh. She didn't know what to say about that because not too far deep inside of her, she thought about what might happen if they broke up. Of course she wanted everything to work out. And she almost felt like a hypocrite telling Nick all this stuff when she couldn't help but think that Nick would somehow screw everything up.

* * *

Get married? Schmidt felt his heart racing and beads of sweat were forming on his forehead and back. Sure he had nearly proposed to CeCe but that was nearly only related to the fact that he thought that she was pregnant. In general, he had no desire to get married anytime soon. To anyone. What if he had picked CeCe instead of Elizabeth? Would she be saying this marriage stuff too?

Of course she would. She almost married Shivrang, a dude she barely knew, just so she could have children. Somewhere inside of him, he had already known this and had partially used it to make his decision. But he had no idea Elizabeth was wanting to get on the wedding train too. What was it with women in their 30's? His mind began to drift to CeCe's perfect curves and the way she would scold when she was pissed at him.

"Hello!" Elizabeth waved her hand in front of his face.

Schmidt snapped out of his daydream. "Sorry. I'm really tired. So much going on these past few days!"

"Are you not okay with us getting married someday?" she prodded. She knew him so damn well.

Schmidt gulped. "No, no. I'd make a stunning groom and you would make a gorgeous bride. We'd have the most perfect wedding of all time."

"Hmmm," she looked at him suspiciously but didn't say anything else.

"Honest," Schmidt lied, "Marriage would be wonderful."

* * *

Jess and Nick were the only ones in the loft. Schmidt was at Elizabeth's and Winston was in Chicago visiting his uncle who was in the hospital with leukemia. It had been a week since their first fight as a couple and things have been going pretty smoothly between them. Jess was helping Nick move his stuff into her room. Jess held up some pictures of him and Caroline.

"Do you really need these?" she asked. Several of the pictures were of them kissing and one even looked like an post-sex shot of them in bed.

"It's not like I'm with her anymore," he shrugged, "I just have them for old memories sake."

"These are gross. I really don't want to see intimate pictures of you and Caroline."

"Then don't look at them!"

"Can't you just throw them away?"

"I want to keep them Jessica. It's not like you don't have any pictures of your exes!"

"I don't have any like this! Mine are of stuff we did together."

"We did stuff together too!"

"MY pictures are of picnics and Disneyland and family get-togethers! Not sucking the face off them!"

"Why are ya making such a big deal?!" He snatched one of the pictures out of her hand and tore it in half. "There! You happy now?"

"A little bit," Jess smiled slightly, "I'm sorry Nick, but I just can't understand why you'd want to keep them."

Nick sighed. "I guess I'd be pretty pissed too if you had pictures like that of you and Russell or someone."

Jess laughed. "Wow, I don't think me and Russell ever took any pictures together. He wasn't really a camera person."

Nick took the rest of the pictures from her hands and threw them in the big trashbag they were using to help organize.

"You know," Jess began, "It might be okay if _we_ took some post-intercourse pictures."

"We'd have to have sex to do that wouldn't we?" Nick grinned wickedly.

Instead of responding, Jess pressed her lips lightly against his, kissing him slowly. He kissed her back much harder and scooped her up into his arms and placed her on his bed.

"This is the last time we can do this on this bed," he whispered. She began to pull off his shirt and he quickly yanked her skirt off. They were so wrapped up in each other that they didn't hear the footsteps of their new/old roommate entering the bedroom.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE?" boomed Coach's voice.


	9. Welcome Back Coach!

HUGE apologies for everyone! I've been so busy lately and haven't written in a long time. I want to continue this story because I have a lot of ideas! I just need more time. (Don't we all?) Also, I haven't read any New Girl fan fiction in a long either so I have no idea what anyone has written about lately. If I use someone's idea, I promise you, it was not on purpose, it'll merely be coincidental. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Oh yeah, part of this chapter includes some sexual content. I'm not changing the whole story to M, but I just thought I'd give you a heads up.

* * *

"Coach!" Nick yelled as he grabbed Jess's skirt from where it was laying on the bed and quickly covered her up and then zipped his pants before standing up.

"What happened to the no-nail oath we made?" Coach demanded. "You said you wouldn't be able to avoid doing this with her so that's why you had us make it! Apparently, you can't even follow your own rules!"

Nick took a deep breath. "Look, Coach, so much has gone on since you left. When Jess first moved in, yes, I was attracted to her. But I had no idea her and I would become so close. She's my best friend. I can't imagine this NOT happening now. "

"Love is a beautiful thing," Coach began, "Who am I to judge these emotions you two have for each other? I've been there myself. I've felt love and lost love."

Jess and Nick exchanged weird looks. This was NOT the Coach they knew.

Jess wrapped an afghan that was laying on the end of her bed around her to cover up. "Umm, so Coach, do you need any help moving your stuff in?" She was trying to change the topic because Coach actually looked like he was about to cry.

Coach sniffled really loud and bit his lip. "I don't have anything. Well, except a change of clothes, a basketball signed by Michael Jordan, and a razor. Daisy threw all of my stuff over the balcony because she thought I was cheating on her."

"Wait," Jess started, "Did you say Daisy? Daisy Slatkin? Was she Asian?"

"Yeah, Korean I think. Why? Do you know her?" Coach asked.

"That's Winston's girlfriend!" Jess exclaimed.

"I wouldn't say girlfriend exactly," Nick said, "More like sex buddy."

"So what you're telling me is, even though Daisy blamed me for cheating, which I did not do, she was cheating on me? WITH WINSTON?" Coach boomed.

"Yeah," Jess said quietly. Nick just nodded his head, his eyes wide.

Coach didn't say anything else. He marched out of the room, very pissed and very likely on a search for Winston.

* * *

"Would you want a big wedding or a small one?" Elizabeth asked, running her hands through Schmidt's hair.

Now she was talking about a wedding! They weren't even engaged and she was planning a wedding! Schmidt started panicking some more.

"Small, definitely small," he said quickly, "Just family and some friends."

"Would you invite CeCe? I mean, I know you picked me, but that's Jess's friend and I know it might be weird if she didn't come. I just don't think I'd be okay with it, you know?" she asked.

"CeCe? Why would I invite CeCe? Blech. No, hell no. She can't come!" Schmidt said. How on God's green earth could he say vows to Elizabeth with CeCe watching? Dying seemed like a better idea.

"Well good, " Elizabeth smiled, "I'm glad you feel the same way."

"I could never do that to you," Schmidt kissed Elizabeth on the forehead.

* * *

Because of the interruption, Nick and Jess were no longer in the mood for sex. Instead, they continued cleaning out Nick's room. There was so much crap in his closet that when Nick was in the bathroom, Jess started picking up anything she could and shoved it in a trash bag. He would never know.

Finally, after taking a break for dinner and then working another hour, his room was barren. The only things that remained were some stains on the carpet and a big crack in the window. Hopefully Coach wouldn't mind.

Nick's stuff was all piled up in Jess's room. She hated how it looked and couldn't wait to clean it out tomorrow. Nick was tired, he had yawned several times in the past half-hour and was taking off his shirt so they could go to bed.

"Damn, you're a sexy beast," Jess grinned.

Nick gave her a weird look. "Sexy beast? Where the hell did that come from?"

Jess ignored him. "I just want to yank those boxers right off of you and show you a good time."

Nick didn't know what to say. He only could look at Jess with curiosity.

"I bought some glow-in-the-dark condoms," Jess tossed Nick the package they were in.

Nick raised his eyebrows and quickly walked over to turn off the light switch. He came back over to Jess and began to kiss her, realizing that in the two seconds he had turned around, Jess had pulled off her dress and was completely naked. She ran her hands ever so gently down his chest and past his stomach, gently placing her fingers under the band of his boxers. She could feel how hard he was and wrapped her hand around him. With her other hand, she pulled off the boxers and pulled him close to her. She reached over to the box of condoms and got one out and unwrapped it. It wasn't glowing!

"Ya gotta hold it up to the light for a second," Nick explained. Jess groaned and switched on the lamp beside the bed and held the condom up to the lightbulb and then shut it off. Now the condom was glowing. Jess unrolled it slowly on him and because the room was so dark, all you could see was a glowing penis standing straight up.

It was definitely not a sight Schmidt was prepared for when he burst into the room.


	10. It's Never Good When You Love Two Women

A huge thank you to those of you who left me reviews! Before life picked up again, I wanted to write another chapter. Hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

(In unison)…Nick and Jess: "GET OUT SCHMIDT!" Schmidt: "NICHOLAS! Your penis is bigger than mine!"

Nick grabbed a pillow and covered himself up. "What is the matter with you Schmidt? First Coach, now you! Why can't me and my girlfriend have sex and be LEFT ALONE?"

"Seriously Schmidt! Don't make me the lock the door. I'll do it! You might think I'm sweet and kind Jess, but you'll quickly find out I have a mean side!" Jess threatened.

"I've already seen your mean side. It comes out every time you get your menstrual period," Schmidt grumbled. "Do you two not care about everything that's going on in my life right now?"

"Do we look like we care?" Nick asked rudely.

"Just give us some alone time and then we can all talk. I can even bake some cookies if you want," Jess suggested in an effort to hopefully get Schmidt to leave the room quicker.

"I don't need carbs and sugar to make me feel better Jessica. But I'll take what I can get. It's 10:13 right now, you have until 10:30 or I'll be back," Schmidt threatened.

"Whatever Schmidt," Nick rolled his eyes.

* * *

At precisely 10:30, Nick and Jess emerged from their bedroom. They walked into the living room to find Schmidt laying on the couch asleep wearing only a pair of royal blue silk boxers.

"He really must be having a rough day," Nick whispered, "Sleeping on the couch is up there with death in the family and salmonella poisoning." He took Jess's hand and they went back to the bedroom.

"Since the Schmidt crisis is temporarily on hiatus, maybe we should check on Winston and see if he's still alive," Jess suggested.

Nick agreed and they went to see if Winston was in his bedroom. He wasn't.

"I hope Coach didn't kill him," Nick said.

"You know, technically, this isn't even his fault. Daisy should have told Winston she was dating someone else, and vice versa with Coach," Jess thought aloud.

"Yeah, you're right," Nick agreed. "Hopefully Coach wasn't too harsh on him."

Right then, they heard the front door open and some laughter. Then some yelling from Schmidt who obviously had been woken up. Jess and Nick walked back out there.

To their surprise, Winston and Coach were the ones laughing. "I can't believe she thought she could fool us!" Winston was saying. Schmidt was sitting on the couch with the blanket wrapped around him and a scowl on his face. He half-smiled though when he saw Nick and Jess standing there.

"Nicholas, Jessica, I might have fallen asleep, but now that I've been rudely awakened, us three can have our chat," he announced.

"What's going on?" Winston asked curiously.

"For real," Coach agreed, "Everything has changed since I left. " He looked at Nick and Jess. "You two are on the love boat. Schmidt's metrosexuality has tripled. The loft itself looks completely different."

"I may as well tell you all why my life is a crap-fest right now," Schmidt began. Nick and Jess sat on the couch, Winston sat on the comfy chair, and Coach brought over a chair from the dining room table.

Schmidt started off saying how he had sort of dated CeCe to which Coach interrupted and asked if she was "the hot model friend of Jess who came over with no bra". Then Schmidt continued by saying he had broken off things with CeCe and then tried to get her back and then CeCe got engaged and he fell back in love with Elizabeth and got together with her, tried to ruin CeCe's wedding and succeeded (in his mind of course), and then he ended up choosing Elizabeth when the two women made him decide.

"So now," he continued, "I'm with Elizabeth and everything is hunky dory. Except the fact that she wants to get married."

"So?" Jess asked, "You were going to marry CeCe when you thought she was pregnant."

"How did you..." Schmidt looked bewildered, "How did you know that?"

"CeCe told me! She said you told her that the night you came over and tried to get back together with her and were drunk," Jess explained.

"I guess it's some rule that women must tell each other everything," Schmidt rolled his eyes.

"So you don't want to marry Elizabeth?" Winston prodded. Coach cracked his knuckles and yawned.

"Of course I don't want to marry her! " Schmidt exclaimed. "I'm 30 years old! Life is just beginning for me! I just started dating her! I just got over CeCe!"

"Technically, you dated her years ago," Jess pointed out, "There might have been a break in between, but you guys have been together a long time including then and now. Also, what do you mean life is just beginning for you? You've been out of college and working for years! How long do you want to wait to settle down?"

"I'm with Jess," Nick added, "You don't want to be 40 when you have your first kid."

"And then there's the fact that I'm still in love with CeCe," Schmidt said quietly.

"You just said you were over her man!" Winston proclaimed.

"I lied," Schmidt sighed. "I'm in love with both of them. I thought I loved Elizabeth more but now, I don't know."

"Schmidt, you have to decide! You can't lead Elizabeth on like this! She deserves to be with someone who loves her and ONLY her!" Jess yelled.

"The woman is right," Coach threw in, "Playing with someone's heart gets you nowhere good in life." He looked over at Winston.

"Okay, so I break up with Elizabeth. But do I go back to CeCe? Elizabeth will find out! And I'll still be in love with her. It's a huge mess. A huge, huge mess!"

"Maybe," Jess suggested slowly, "Maybe you should break up with Elizabeth and not date CeCe either. Just don't date anyone for a long time and give yourself time to get over both of them. Then, after six months or so, if you still have feelings for one of them, you get back together. If not, you move on, and find someone else."

Schmidt was quiet for a moment. "Maybe I should."

"I think Jess has a good idea," Winston said.

"You'll know who you actually want," Coach agreed. Nick just nodded. He looked like he was ready to fall asleep any second.

Schmidt smiled sadly. "I guess it's final then. I'll be a miserable single man. "

* * *

CeCe sat on her couch in sweatpants and a tank top flipping through channels on TV. Nadia walked in and sat next to her.

"You so sad. You want me to break Jew's penis again? Make him sorry he broke your heart," she suggested.

CeCe sighed sadly. "Thanks, but you don't need to do that. I just have to move on and get over him. I don't blame him for choosing Elizabeth."

"I thought he love you. He say your name when we have sex. Two times," Nadia told her.

"He said MY name while he was having sex with you?" CeCe asked incredulously.

"Maybe you talk to him. Make him change his mind."

"I can't play with his heart like that. He might be in love with me, but he loves Elizabeth more."

* * *

The next day, Jess brought in the mail after she came home from work.

"Here Nick," she handed her boyfriend an envelope, "Something came for you from your brother."

He opened the envelope and pulled out an invitation. "It's Jamie's wedding invitation. It's this Saturday!"

"Wow, that's really short notice! Are you going to be able to go?" Jess asked.

"I'll have to," Nick said, "I can't miss his wedding. Ma will kill me if I do."

"I'm surprised he didn't ask you to be in his wedding," Jess said, "I mean, you're his brother."

"I don't really care," Nick shrugged, "If I'm not in the wedding, then I can dress more casual anyway. He said I can bring a guest. You want to go with me?"

"Of course! I'd love to see your family again!" Jess said excitedly.

"Really? After the way everyone treated you?"

"Well, your mom ended up being really sweet to me when we were leaving and Jamie and Bobby didn't bother me that much. Besides, we get to take a trip together without Schmidt and Winston. And Coach now too."

"Good point. Just don't freak out if my mom starts asking us crazy stuff like wedding questions and baby questions. When I brought Caroline home with me for Christmas one year, my mom asked us in front of everyone at the dinner table what type of wedding we were going to happen."

"That's not so bad. When I was with Spencer, my dad asked the both of us if my birth control was good enough because he didn't want to be a grandpa before he turned 50."

"Parents," Nick sighed.

* * *

A/N: Once again, if I accidentally take anyone's ideas, I'm really sorry. I feel like this is completely original, but I also feel like a lot of us have thought/came up with the idea of Nick and Jess going together for Jamie's wedding. Hopefully, my story will be different than other people's.


	11. An Airport Adventure

LAX seemed more crowded than usual. It took awhile to get over to the gate because of everyone in their way. Right after they sat down, an announcement was made that they would be lining up for boarding.

"We're group 5," Nick said, "Let's just sit for a few minutes."

"I hope I remembered everything!" Jess rummaged through her purse. "I packed in such a hurry."

"What are you looking for?"

"My phone charger. I must have left it at home. My phone is only at 30%, I forgot to charge it last night."

"There's a gift shop right across from us. Why don't you run in there real quick and buy one? We have plenty of time before we actually get called to board."

"Okay Nick. I'll try to hurry!" Jess got up and decided to run into the restroom before the gift shop. They had only been finishing up group one so she had plenty of time. But what she didn't know was that after the plane had started boarding, the pilot had noticed a slight crack in the windshield that the other pilot who had been flying the plane before hadn't noticed. Because of this, they had discontinued the boarding process and were telling those that got on the plane to get off. And, they were redirecting everyone to another gate.

Poor Nick was panicking. While everyone else was walking to the other gate, he went into the gift shop to get Jess but he couldn't find her. He thought maybe she had gotten mixed up and gone to the other gift shop way down the terminal.

Jess walked out of the restroom and into the gift shop. She quickly found the charger and paid for it. She walked back over to the gate and saw that everyone, including Nick, was gone!

"Damn it," she thought, "He must have went ahead and boarded without me!"

She went up to the woman at the gate. "Excuse me, but I ran to the gift shop really quickly and when I came back, everyone had boarded. My boyfriend has my ticket. I promise I'm on this flight! I just need you to go get him."

"I'm sorry ma'am, but no one will be boarding this flight," the woman replied, unaware that Jess had no idea that the flight had been changed.

"What do you mean no one will be boarding? I have my ticket! I just, don't have it," Jess was trying her best to come across believable.

"Ma'am, the flight has been _canceled_. All of you that were on this flight will be taking another flight. You need to go to Terminal B, gate 9," the woman explained in a rude tone.

Jess just nodded and started walking quickly to the other gate. She tried to call Nick to tell her she was on her way but his phone went straight to voicemail. Little did she know that Nick was literally a few feet behind her.

Nick reached in his pocket to find his cell phone to try and get a hold of Jess, but it wasn't there. He sighed and started to jog to try to get to the gate quickly because he had no idea when the new flight would leave. He jogged right past his anxious girlfriend.

Jess found the gate and sat down and low and behold, there was Bearclaw sitting in a chair while scrolling through a webpage on his iPad.

"Bearclaw," Jess said hesitantly.

Bearclaw looked up and then seeing that it was her, he quickly looked back down at his iPad.

"Hey!" Jess protested. "I know I really upset you and everything, but I really am sorry. I didn't mean to lead you on like that."

"It's fine Jess," he said, looking up. "I've got a girlfriend now. She's pretty and makes me laugh and we make passionate love every time we're together. I'm on my way to visit her right now actually."

"Well, great! That's good to hear. By the way, speaking of relationships, have you seen my friend Nick? Actually, he's my boyfriend now. We're flying out to Chicago together and I can't find him!"

"You sure do get around. First me, then the doctor, now Nick the bartender," he rolled his eyes.

"That's beside the point! Seriously, have you seen him?" she demanded.

"Nope. Why are you with him anyway? He doesn't seem like your type. You need to be with someone who has the passion. Who can seriously show you a good time. Nick isn't that guy."

"And do you think you are?"

"I know I am. You and I connected so well. Emotionally. Spiritually. And I'm sure we would have connected sexually if you had just given me a chance!"

Jess couldn't believe this. Nick was missing and Bearclaw wouldn't shut up. Out of all the people in this world, why would she run into him?

"I thought you just said you had a girlfriend! I think she'd be pretty pissed to hear you saying all this stuff about me!"

"I lied! I haven't found love since we were together."

"We were never together! We had one horrible, very short date. In fact, I wouldn't even call it a _date_ because you were just so weird and disgusting!"

Bearclaw looked like he was about to cry. "You're the meanest woman I've ever met!" He got up and his iPad dropped on the ground, the glass cracking in the front. "See what you did!"

Just then, she finally saw Nick walking toward the gate. She waved him over. "Thank god you're finally here!"

"Where have you been?" Nick was pissed.

"I went to the restroom and then the gift shop and then back to the gate and everyone was gone! Then, I went here and you weren't here either. Where have YOU been?"

"I was looking for you! When they said the gates were changing, I tried to find you. "

Jess sighed. "It was just bad timing."

"Hey, it's Bearclaw!" Nick said, walking over in his direction. "Hey man, how's it going?"

"Asshole!" Bearclaw hit Nick over the head with his broken iPad.

"What the hell was that for?" Nick demanded but Bearclaw had walked off in the direction of Starbucks.

"Never mind Nick. He's not your biggest fan," Jess smiled wanly.

* * *

Five hours later, they were in the Windy City and in a taxi on the way to Nick's childhood home. When they arrived, Mrs. Miller answered the door.

"Nicky! Jess! You two made it safe and sound! I was beginning to worry. A storm is coming in you know," she gave hugs to both of them.

"Hey ma," Nick said, kissing his mom on the cheek.

"It's so good to see you again Mrs. Miller," Jess smiled.

"Nicky told me all about you two!" Mrs. Miller grinned. "He's never sounded as happy as he did as he was on the phone the other day."

"Ma," Nick groaned.

"Your son makes me pretty happy too," Jess said to be polite.

"The Miller men know how to please! If that's one thing about your father that I miss Nicky, it's the fact that he never once left me feeling unsatisfied."

"MA! Seriously?!" Nick looked disgusted. Jess was blushing a scarlet red.

"Oh grow up Nicholas! Sex is a normal part of everyday life. You have nothing to me ashamed of. If you're anything like your father, I'm sure Jess has nothing to complain about!"

"Sex is a beautiful thing," Aunt Ruthie cackled. She was sitting in a chair in the corner wrapping up a ball of yarn.

Jamie walked into the room wearing a golden colored crown that resembled the ones that Burger King gave away and a purple bathrobe that was loosely tied around him. "Nick! You and glasses made it! You ready for my bachelor party?"

"Bachelor party? I'm not even in your wedding! I didn't know you'd have one," Nick replied.

"Of course you're in it! You're my best man!" Jamie grinned and whacked Nick hard on the back.

"Ow! How was I supposed to know? You didn't tell me. I have nothing to wear!" Nick complained.

"It's going to be real casual. Just wear a button down and some khakis. That's all I'm wearing!"

"DeAnn is okay with that? If Jess and I were getting married, she'd kill me if that's what I was wearing."

Jess's heart skipped a beat. Married? Nick was actually thinking about THEM getting married.

"Different strokes for different folks," Jamie shrugged. "You are going to do it right?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Nick agreed reluctantly.

"Good! I need you to buy all the alcohol. My license got revoked so I can't buy it on my own anymore."

Jess and Nick both exchanged brief looks of panic. Nick couldn't afford alcohol for a bachelor party and he knew Jamie couldn't either.

Nick sighed."Yeah, I can get the alcohol. Just don't expect too much Jamie. I'm not made of money."

"You're the best!" Jamie whacked Nick on the back again.

"Ya gotta stop doing that!" Nick grumbled.


End file.
